Kōke'e

This was without a doubt THE song of the week. I went to Kauaʻi for Spring Break(!) with one of my friends from High School, and I swear we could not stop singing it (Kōkeʻe is a place on Kauaʻi). That's what happens when you put two people together, who know every word to a song, in the right setting: theyʻll both sing it over and over again. We were both a part of the Kamehameha Middle School Kāpalama Nā ʻOpio Singers (choir) and "Kōkeʻe" was one of the songs we sang for BOTH our seventh and eight grade year. So we pretty much knew it by heart.

But before I get to the fun stuff, here's a little about the composer (whom I just learned about tonight): 

This song was composed and arranged by Dennis Kamakahi who is a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, a recording artist, and a music composer. He started off as a member of Nā Leo o Nuʻuanu in 1972 and his first recording was the album Ia ʻOe E Ka Lā Volume 1. From 1988-2004, he composed around 500 songs during with Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii, becoming one of Hawaiʻi's most prolific songwriters in Hawaiian language. Kamakahi launched his solo career in 1996, releasing his first slack key guitar CD Puaʻena among others that followed. In 2003 under his own recording label, Dennis Kamakahi Productions, he released an album with his son David, The Gift of Music - From Father to Son. In 2004, Kamakahi produced an album featuring his son entitled Paʻani. It was David's first attempt at a solo, and both father and son received Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards that year. At the 49th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2007, Kamakahi received his First Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album for the slack key guitar CD Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. In 2008 he received his second Grammy in the Hawaiian Music Category for his CD Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. In 2009, Kamakahi was nominated for a third Grammy, did not win an award, but did receive his first gold Grammy Nominee medal as a record producer. He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts as a member of the Sons of Hawaii and was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. Then in 2010, he was nominated and won his third Grammy for his CD The Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar 2 - Live in Maui.

...I did not know ANY of that, it's a good thing I'm using this assignment to learn a little more about the people who sing the songs that are constantly stuck in my head ('cause most of the time I don't even know who sings them)...... but now back to "Kōkeʻe" itself.

This song is a mele pana, or, as the title of the song suggests, a place song. It describes the beauty and atmosphere at the summit of Kōkeʻe, which over looks Kalalau valley and Waimea Canyon. It also talks about heading back East to the hot sun and calm sea of Poʻipū at Koloa. We visited every place the song talks about and coincidentally stayed in Poʻipū during our time on Kauaʻi. Here are the lyrics to the song, as well as some pictures we took that conveniently represent each description perfectly:

Kōkeʻe

Upu aʻe, he manaʻo i ka wēkiu o Kōkeʻe
I ka nani o ka ʻāina o ka noe poʻaiʻai
A thought recurs to the summit of Kōkeʻe
In the beauty of the land of the encircling rain

Kalalau

ʻO Kalalau, he ʻāina laʻa i ka ua liʻiliʻi.
Kalalau is the sacred land in the drizzling rain.

Waimea

ʻO Waimea, kuʻu lei aloha.
Never more, to say goodbye.
Waimea is my beloved wreath.
Never more, to say goodbye

Poʻipū

Hoʻi mai ana i kahikina i ka lā welawela
I ke kai hāwanawana i Poʻipū ma Kōloa
Returning to the east in the doubly hot sun
To the whispering sea at Poʻipū in Kōloa

Kōkeʻe

Mele au, nō ka beauty
I ka uka ʻiuʻiu i Kōkeʻe ua ʻike au i ka noe poʻaiʻai
I sing for the beauty
In the lofty uplands at Kōkeʻe I saw the encircling mist

The song really does represent these areas perfectly. It was hard not to think of the words as we surveyed each place. It's no wonder why we had it stuck in our heads the whole time :)